Sometimes being in the newspaper business involves waiting. Our staff would prefer to get the news now, so we can get it out and best serve our readers. But government and bureaucracies don’t work like that.

Here are a few items we are waiting for today:

— The decision on whether the Placer High School football team should have to forfeit three of its games. I already wrote an editorial saying this entire forfeit fiasco is a crock. Placer did not try to cheat and did not cheat, so the California Interscholastic Federation should give the players back their hard-fought victories and let’s see the Hillmen in the playoffs. No matter what, the Hillmen beat Colfax, and that was something for which Hillmen faithful can be proud. Colfax is always tough. But this year’s team fairly earned a playoff spot and now we have to wait to announce whether the three forfeits will be overturned. That would give Placer a share of the league title. But even without the forfeits’ reinstatement, a win against undefeated Whitney High School tonight would also get them in for the first time since 2000. I’m told you can expect to find out the forfeit results on auburnjournal.com by Saturday night and the Whitney game results will be online tonight by midnight.

— A conclusion to the Michelle Ollar-Burris vs. Placer County saga. The county’s accusations that the former planning commissioner committed illegal real estate deals are yet to be proven. She says she is the victim of a conspiracy and many believe her, some of whom I know and trust. We see on their agendas that Placer County supervisors have her case up for discussion in closed sessions, but then they come out and say nothing. That’s presumably because no action has been taken. Ollar-Burris, the county and taxpayers all deserve to know what the truth is. But the wheels of justice grind ever so slowly. We probably won’t know anything until 2009. Even so, you can safely bet we will follow this story to its fruition.

— A decision to the Paul Kovacich trial. The family of murder victim Janet Kovacich has been waiting since 1982 for justice, so I guess we can wait a few more weeks until the murder trial concludes to report on the outcome. It is unknown whether Paul Kovacich will take the stand in his own defense. What has been proven is that Placer County prosecutors can gain a conviction without a body. In this case they appear to have just a partial skull of Janet Kovacich. In the recent Mario Garcia Murder trial, even though victim Christie Wilson’s body was never found, Garcia is now spending his life in prison. I believe Christie’s body will eventually be found, if we are patient and keep looking. She deserves a proper burial and her family deserves closure.

— Lastly, since the election was 10 days ago, it would be nice to be able to report who the Fourth Congressional District winner is, Charlie Brown or Tom McClintock. That decision should be published in the Journal by Thanksgiving. The Fourth District encompasses something like nine counties, so logistically it’s difficult. But it sure seems to be taking an awfully long time to count the votes.

Like I said, part of a journalist’s job is waiting, but not giving up on the story ...